OCAD U Assistant Professor Julius Poncelet Manapul shares insights on how to be resilient in an ever-changing art landscape in a podcast interview with Artalogue host Madison Beale.
Artalogue is a podcast about careers in art with Beale talking to the movers, shakers and history-makers shaping the art world, uncovering the many paths to a creative career.
In the episode, Between Worlds: How Julius Manapul Made Art Their Home, the Toronto-based Filipinx artist also discusses how they created a sense of be-longing through making their fictional reflective installations for belongings from the award-winning show, SILA/SIYA/AKO, curated by Dr. Marissa Largo that was at A Space Gallery in 2024.
An excerpt from the interview:
"I remember no one wanted to show my work. This was after graduating my master's and it was hard. People were still skeptical. [...] So I had to be strategic. I basically answered every single artist call out there globally. [...] I had to make it. I tell students this: do not just sit there and wait. If there's no space for you in the table, you make that space. Try your best to make that space. If you believe in your work, it will happen. It will manifest. [...] I knew I wanted to create not just artwork, but a political narrative. I wanted to create a narrative that was not there growing up as a Filipino immigrant kid in Toronto. I didn't hear and see these stories. I wanted to create those landscapes and those stories."
Through their practice, Manapul transforms the pain of displacement into powerful art that challenges colonial structures and celebrates queer identity. As a Filipinx immigrant who arrived in Canada in the 1990s, Manapul found themselves caught between languages and cultures – a displacement that led them to embrace visual communication as a universal language transcending verbal barriers.
The episode is available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
